Saskatchewan's Deputy Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Denise Werker said preliminary tests suggest that a Saskatchewan resident "probably" has Zika, but it could take upwards of two months for lab confirmation. Assuming it is Zika virus, it is believed to be the first reported case in Canada of transmission through sexual contact. Don Healy / Regina Leader-Post

REGINA — Saskatchewan doctors have received an alert from the Ministry of Health about the high rate of sexually transmitted infections in the province.

The alert is in a news email sent out by the Saskatchewan Medical Association with information from Dr. Denise Werker, the province’s deputy chief medical health officer.

Werker says there are several reasons for the alert.

“Certainly our rates for syphilis have increased, so they are 2.7 times higher in 2016 as compared to what they were in 2015 during the same time period. In addition, our gonorrhea rates have substantively increased in 2016, so they had increased 39 per cent as compared to the same time period in 2015,” Werker said Friday

The alert says there 60 syphilis cases as of the end of October, up from 22 in the same period in 2015.

There were 1,087 gonorrhea cases as of the end of October, up from 779 in the same period in 2015, it said.

I think that there are multiple reasons for the increase. It’s not just a problem in Saskatchewan, but the numbers and rates have been increasing in other jurisdictions in Canada, as well as internationally. — Dr. Denise Werker

The deputy chief medical officer says another concern is that a resistant strain of gonorrhea, called beta-lactamase resistant gonorrhea, has been found in Saskatchewan for the first time.

“It is generally associated with people who have sex in other countries. It has been present in other countries for a period of time,” she said.

Werker says that important news for doctors because it affects treatment.

Treatment for gonorrhea depends on the site of sexual exposure — oral, rectal or vaginal. Doctors will have to ask patients about their sexual activities in order to take swabs from the right part of the body.

“If you don’t get answers to those questions, then you may not know where to take the samples to diagnose the sexually transmitted infection and you will not necessarily choose the most optimal treatment for that patient,” she said.

The alert outlines risk factors, testing and treatment, saying prompt diagnosis and treatment will help prevent the spread of these infections.

The Opposition NDP says the increasing rates are alarming and the government needs better plans to address the issue.

“They should be really working … with experts in this area to push forward a meaningful strategy, one that’s based on evidence and one that government can actually track and follow and determine whether or not they’re actually being successful or not,” said New Democrat Nicole Sarauer.

Saskatchewan’s rates of sexually transmitted infections are also high compared to the rest of Canada.

The latest figures on the Public Health Agency of Canada website say in 2012, the national average was 298.7 chlamydia cases per 100,000, but was 526 per 100,000 in Saskatchewan. The national gonorrhea rate was 36.2 per 100,000 — jumping to 93.6 per 100,000 in Saskatchewan.